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  <section id="export">
<span id="command:export"></span><h1>export<a class="headerlink" href="#export" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h1>
<p>Export targets or packages for outside projects to use them directly
from the current project's build tree, without installation.</p>
<p>See the <span class="target" id="index-0-command:install"></span><a class="reference internal" href="install.html#command:install" title="install(export)"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">install(EXPORT)</span></code></a> command to export targets from an
install tree.</p>
<section id="synopsis">
<h2>Synopsis<a class="headerlink" href="#synopsis" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<pre class="literal-block">export(<a class="reference internal" href="#targets">TARGETS</a> &lt;target&gt;... [...])
export(<a class="reference internal" href="#id1">EXPORT</a> &lt;export-name&gt; [...])
export(<a class="reference internal" href="#package">PACKAGE</a> &lt;PackageName&gt;)</pre>
</section>
<section id="exporting-targets">
<h2>Exporting Targets<a class="headerlink" href="#exporting-targets" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<div class="highlight-cmake notranslate" id="targets"><span id="export-targets"></span><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="nf">export(</span><span class="no">TARGETS</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">&lt;target&gt;...</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">[</span><span class="no">NAMESPACE</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">&lt;namespace&gt;</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="w">       </span><span class="p">[</span><span class="no">APPEND</span><span class="p">]</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="no">FILE</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">&lt;filename&gt;</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">[</span><span class="no">EXPORT_LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="w">       </span><span class="p">[</span><span class="no">CXX_MODULES_DIRECTORY</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">&lt;directory&gt;</span><span class="p">]</span><span class="nf">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Creates a file <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;filename&gt;</span></code> that may be included by outside projects to
import targets named by <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;target&gt;...</span></code> from the current project's build tree.
This is useful during cross-compiling to build utility executables that can
run on the host platform in one project and then import them into another
project being compiled for the target platform.</p>
<p>The file created by this command is specific to the build tree and
should never be installed.  See the <span class="target" id="index-1-command:install"></span><a class="reference internal" href="install.html#command:install" title="install(export)"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">install(EXPORT)</span></code></a> command to
export targets from an install tree.</p>
<p>The options are:</p>
<dl class="simple">
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NAMESPACE</span> <span class="pre">&lt;namespace&gt;</span></code></dt><dd><p>Prepend the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;namespace&gt;</span></code> string to all target names written to the file.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">APPEND</span></code></dt><dd><p>Append to the file instead of overwriting it.  This can be used to
incrementally export multiple targets to the same file.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">EXPORT_LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES</span></code></dt><dd><p>Include the contents of the properties named with the pattern
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">(IMPORTED_)?LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES(_&lt;CONFIG&gt;)?</span></code>
in the export, even when policy <span class="target" id="index-0-policy:CMP0022"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../policy/CMP0022.html#policy:CMP0022" title="CMP0022"><code class="xref cmake cmake-policy docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMP0022</span></code></a> is NEW.  This is useful
to support consumers using CMake versions older than 2.8.12.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CXX_MODULES_DIRECTORY</span> <span class="pre">&lt;directory&gt;</span></code></p>
<blockquote>
<div><div class="admonition note">
<p class="admonition-title">Note</p>
<p>Experimental. Gated by <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_EXPERIMENTAL_CXX_MODULE_CMAKE_API</span></code></p>
</div>
<p>Export C++ module properties to files under the given directory. Each file
will be named according to the target's export name (without any namespace).
These files will automatically be included from the export file.</p>
</div></blockquote>
<p>This signature requires all targets to be listed explicitly.  If a library
target is included in the export, but a target to which it links is not
included, the behavior is unspecified.  See the <a class="reference internal" href="#export-export">export(EXPORT)</a> signature
to automatically export the same targets from the build tree as
<span class="target" id="index-2-command:install"></span><a class="reference internal" href="install.html#command:install" title="install(export)"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">install(EXPORT)</span></code></a> would from an install tree.</p>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="admonition-title">Note</p>
<p><a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-buildsystem.7.html#object-libraries"><span class="std std-ref">Object Libraries</span></a> under <span class="target" id="index-0-generator:Xcode"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../generator/Xcode.html#generator:Xcode" title="Xcode"><code class="xref cmake cmake-generator docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Xcode</span></code></a> have special handling if
multiple architectures are listed in <span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES.html#variable:CMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES" title="CMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES</span></code></a>.
In this case they will be exported as <a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-buildsystem.7.html#interface-libraries"><span class="std std-ref">Interface Libraries</span></a> with
no object files available to clients.  This is sufficient to satisfy
transitive usage requirements of other targets that link to the
object libraries in their implementation.</p>
</div>
<p>This command exports all <a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-buildsystem.7.html#build-configurations"><span class="std std-ref">Build Configurations</span></a> from the build tree.
See the <span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_&lt;CONFIG&gt;"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_CONFIG.html#variable:CMAKE_MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_&lt;CONFIG&gt;" title="CMAKE_MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_&lt;CONFIG&gt;"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_&lt;CONFIG&gt;</span></code></a> variable to map
configurations of dependent projects to the exported configurations.</p>
<section id="exporting-targets-to-android-mk">
<h3>Exporting Targets to Android.mk<a class="headerlink" href="#exporting-targets-to-android-mk" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<div class="highlight-cmake notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="nf">export(</span><span class="no">TARGETS</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">&lt;target&gt;...</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="no">ANDROID_MK</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">&lt;filename&gt;</span><span class="nf">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">New in version 3.7.</span></p>
</div>
<p>This signature exports cmake built targets to the android ndk build system
by creating an <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Android.mk</span></code> file that references the prebuilt targets. The
Android NDK supports the use of prebuilt libraries, both static and shared.
This allows cmake to build the libraries of a project and make them available
to an ndk build system complete with transitive dependencies, include flags
and defines required to use the libraries. The signature takes a list of
targets and puts them in the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Android.mk</span></code> file specified by the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;filename&gt;</span></code> given. This signature can only be used if policy
<span class="target" id="index-1-policy:CMP0022"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../policy/CMP0022.html#policy:CMP0022" title="CMP0022"><code class="xref cmake cmake-policy docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMP0022</span></code></a> is NEW for all targets given. A error will be issued if
that policy is set to OLD for one of the targets.</p>
</section>
</section>
<section id="exporting-targets-matching-install-export">
<h2>Exporting Targets matching install(EXPORT)<a class="headerlink" href="#exporting-targets-matching-install-export" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<div class="highlight-cmake notranslate" id="id1"><span id="export-export"></span><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="nf">export(</span><span class="no">EXPORT</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">&lt;export-name&gt;</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">[</span><span class="no">NAMESPACE</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">&lt;namespace&gt;</span><span class="p">]</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">[</span><span class="no">FILE</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">&lt;filename&gt;</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="w">       </span><span class="p">[</span><span class="no">CXX_MODULES_DIRECTORY</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">&lt;directory&gt;</span><span class="p">]</span><span class="nf">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Creates a file <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;filename&gt;</span></code> that may be included by outside projects to
import targets from the current project's build tree.  This is the same
as the <a class="reference internal" href="#export-targets">export(TARGETS)</a> signature, except that the targets are not
explicitly listed.  Instead, it exports the targets associated with
the installation export <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;export-name&gt;</span></code>.  Target installations may be
associated with the export <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;export-name&gt;</span></code> using the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">EXPORT</span></code> option
of the <span class="target" id="index-3-command:install"></span><a class="reference internal" href="install.html#command:install" title="install(targets)"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">install(TARGETS)</span></code></a> command.</p>
</section>
<section id="exporting-packages">
<h2>Exporting Packages<a class="headerlink" href="#exporting-packages" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<div class="highlight-cmake notranslate" id="package"><span id="export-package"></span><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="nf">export(</span><span class="no">PACKAGE</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">&lt;PackageName&gt;</span><span class="nf">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Store the current build directory in the CMake user package registry
for package <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;PackageName&gt;</span></code>.  The <span class="target" id="index-0-command:find_package"></span><a class="reference internal" href="find_package.html#command:find_package" title="find_package"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">find_package()</span></code></a> command may consider the
directory while searching for package <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;PackageName&gt;</span></code>.  This helps dependent
projects find and use a package from the current project's build tree
without help from the user.  Note that the entry in the package
registry that this command creates works only in conjunction with a
package configuration file (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;PackageName&gt;Config.cmake</span></code>) that works with the
build tree. In some cases, for example for packaging and for system
wide installations, it is not desirable to write the user package
registry.</p>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.1: </span>If the <span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_EXPORT_NO_PACKAGE_REGISTRY"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_EXPORT_NO_PACKAGE_REGISTRY.html#variable:CMAKE_EXPORT_NO_PACKAGE_REGISTRY" title="CMAKE_EXPORT_NO_PACKAGE_REGISTRY"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_EXPORT_NO_PACKAGE_REGISTRY</span></code></a> variable
is enabled, the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">export(PACKAGE)</span></code> command will do nothing.</p>
</div>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.15: </span>By default the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">export(PACKAGE)</span></code> command does nothing (see policy
<span class="target" id="index-0-policy:CMP0090"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../policy/CMP0090.html#policy:CMP0090" title="CMP0090"><code class="xref cmake cmake-policy docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMP0090</span></code></a>) because populating the user package registry has effects
outside the source and build trees.  Set the
<span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_EXPORT_PACKAGE_REGISTRY"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_EXPORT_PACKAGE_REGISTRY.html#variable:CMAKE_EXPORT_PACKAGE_REGISTRY" title="CMAKE_EXPORT_PACKAGE_REGISTRY"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_EXPORT_PACKAGE_REGISTRY</span></code></a> variable to add build directories
to the CMake user package registry.</p>
</div>
</section>
</section>


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    <h3><a href="../index.html">Table of Contents</a></h3>
    <ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#">export</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#synopsis">Synopsis</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#exporting-targets">Exporting Targets</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#exporting-targets-to-android-mk">Exporting Targets to Android.mk</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#exporting-targets-matching-install-export">Exporting Targets matching install(EXPORT)</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#exporting-packages">Exporting Packages</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>

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